In the Chitral district of Pakistan, overshadowed by the Hindu Kush mountain range, live the Kalash. Kalash’s polytheistic indigenous religion is the one of the last of the original Indo-European religions. Although it is related to the other two survivors, Hinduism (which some would call a misnomer as its various branches traditionally thought themselves to be separate from the rest) and Zoroastrianism, this religion has its distinct Gods, tales, rites, and rituals. The Kalasha religion has only approximately3,000 adherents left in the world .

WARNING: The following story is explicit for real. Some communities may consider it lascivious. Do not blame me; blame the Egyptian scribes who originally transcribed the story in the Papyrus Chester-Beatty, and the two translators (alright Chester-Beatty was one guy; seriously, why was the hyphen used when it was both surnames of one man who did not use it officially)?

” There were beautiful Perchten with colorful clothes and glittering ornaments, and the Schiachperchten – bold forms, ghostly apparitions with masks of wood or bark, enveloped in furs, moss, lichen…demons represented by the inhabitants. ” (Michael Moynihan and Kadmon, Lords of Chaos New Edition, “Oskoriei,” 382)

With 86% of Americans having a belief in Santa Klaus until age 8 (AP-AOL, 2006), Jolly Saint Nick is perhaps one of the most recognizable figures in the USA. The story goes that from the North Pole, Santa emerges from his House each year to dispense gifts to children who are obedient to their parents each year. His house according to North American lore is located in the North Pole, where he lives with his wife “Mrs. Klaus.” In workshop hidden from the world, meek elves in his employ make toys and other presents to the believing, which are delivered to Jolly Old Sat Nick some time before Christmas. When Christmas Eve arrives, Santa and his team of eight reindeer fly across the world. Santa enters home through chimneys and eats cookies left by children.

As written in the past few days, this tradition is not universal; i.e. reindeer do not live in the North Pole, factually, so many European traditions locate the Reindeer of Santa in Lapland, Finland. Originally, the figure celebrated for bringing holiday cheer for the British whom would colonize the US, was traditionally Father Christmas, whose origin was the 17th Century when The Protestant ban on Christmas feasts was lifted. He was a man draped regally as if he was royalty. The modern interpretation of Santa Klaus, a large jolly man full of spirit was only popularized in the mid 19th Century, but was iconized by the drawings of former Playboy illustrator Haddon “Sunny” Sundblom as ads for the Coca Cola Company in the 1930s. This was after Father Christmas and the legendary Bishop of Lycia, Turkey, Saint Nicholas of Myra were syncretized. Nicholas was a holy man reputed to have resurrected three children butchered and paid for the dowry of three women, thus preventing them from entering a life of slavery.

Knight Rupert, or Knecht Ruprecht, as he was named originally in German folklore, protects Santa Klaus with staves. He also uses his rod to discipline “misbehaving children.” Contrasting with Santa, Rupert wars dark colored clothes and has generally uncouth hair and facial hair. Due to his strong resemblance to Odin, he is believed to be a modernization of the Highfather so much to the extent that the NAZIs attempted to replace Santa with Rupert believing him to be a corrupted form of the ancient deity. In some traditions, Rupert and Santa have been merged (something like the fusions in Dragon Ball Z and the combining in Transformers I guess) into one entity: Ru Klaus (Eng: Rough Nicholas), who is both the giver of gifts and the dispenser of punishment. Knight Rupert is also linked with Saint Rupert in Switzerland.

On this episode of the Invisible Web Cast, I interview the only court certified historian of the combat sports, Karl Stern once again for the first half of the show. We discuss DC vs Marvel Comics continuity, 52, Annihilation, and some good recent reads. We also touch on some Wrestling history. As a bonus he reads part of his novel, Absence of Absalom, now available for the Amazon Kindle and all compatible readers. Approximately 46 minutes of whackiness~!

AUSTIN~!

And on the second half of the show, the Out There Trilogy comes full circle as “Stunning” Austin Gandy of Disinfo World News and formerly Out There Radio, joins us for more than 45 more minutes of hijinks~! We reveal the origins of young Austin. The discussion is had of popul;ar holiday customs of traditions including but not limited to reindeer. Then SUMOM is brought up. What is SUMOM? Find out the answer to that question and others on this episode. Plus we try to sort out our colleague, the Popo Bawa‘s career as a childrens’ television star.